Chudoruhs Empire (ˈt͡ɕʊ.do.ruːs ˈɛmˌpaɪ̯ɹ)

"The survivors of the scourging of Ostrov fled to the west, and came to the place where the moon grows to fill the sky. Before their ships, the gates of Buyan opened and they landed on the shores of Lukomorye, as the gate closed behind them for a hundred years. The Balaur went into the mountains beyond Lukomorye then, and the Tugarin settled where they landed. There they founded Chudoruhs, the empire that would rule over their new homeland." - from the Letopis Chudoruhov by Radomir Zharkovich

The Chudoruhs Empire is one of the oldest governments in the Great Ring, and rules over the island of Buyan, as well as territories beyond that the outside world knows little of. When the Clarati destroyed the Nakaal and their empire, they used their magic to scour the Kikipua and Zmei species from the islands, with only small pockets surviving to rebuild. On the island of Ostrov, known today as Eyju, those survivors found themselves surrounded by hostile humans, and were forced to flee in what ships they could. By luck or fate, they found themselves sailing beneath the full moon as it swelled beyond its natural size, and entered into the waters of Buyan.

The refugees knew the legends of Buyan, and that the island would vanish from the world when the full moon passed. They did not know if they would find themselves in the empty sea when that happened, or where the island might take them. But with their supplies low and enemies behind them, they chose to risk landing on Buyan and remaining there as the moon set.

They were not cast into the sea, nor into a lightless void as some feared. The sun rose over the island, and while it seemed a little smaller and paler than it used to be, it gave warmth and light all the same. It showed them a land filled with life, some strange and some familiar. It was a place where they could live, and where they might be safe from the genocides that drove them from their homes.

The Early Years

The refugees landed upon the shore and began to build shelters, to scout the land and learn what they could of it. Many believed that the Clarati would follow them through as soon as the full moon rose again, and were determined to get as far from the coast as they could before that happened. Others determined to make a stand on the shore and refuse to be driven any further. The first weeks passed in a frenzy of activity as they built what fortifications they could, gathered food, and began to learn what dangers and opportunities the island held.

The moon did not rise the next month. Nor did it rise after eight weeks, or twelve, or sixteen. Many believed it might never rise again in their lifetimes, which carried mixed emotions for them. The night sky was host to a dozen small lights that sped across the sky in a complicated dance, but the moon was absent. It did not rise again for sixty-seven years.

During this time, the refugees built themselves a life. They had come from many places in the north, fleeing as the Clarati spells hopped from island to island, but the majority were from the two ethnicities of Ostrov, the Tugarin and the Balaur. As the years went on and the threats from outside faded, old divisions and grudges between these two peoples began to resurface, and after a dozen years the Balaur chose to migrate inland, to settle among the mountains beyond the great forest. They had always been highlanders, they said, and wished to live in the high places again. The Tugarin were content to let them go - they preferred the lowlands and the coasts, and built their homes in the region they named Lukomorye.

The Tugarin thrived, and their numbers grew. They became familiar with their new home, and before long there were more who had hatched upon Buyan than those whose nests lay elsewhere. They spread across Lukomorye, building a score of villages that worked the land and the sea.

Return of the Moon

When the full moon rose again, it caused a great panic. Nobody knew what to expect, and all watched the sea with apprehension. When the first night passed without incident, some young people determined to sail a fishing boat out under the moon on the second night, to see what they might find beyond. They found an empty ocean, and the currents of the Great Ring sweeping them to the east. Before they knew what to do, they had gone too far to return before the moon set, and could not find the path again the next night. They were stranded outside, where they had never been.

On Buyan, the third night of the full moon passed, and no attack came from outside. The adventurers who had ventured out were believed lost forever, and their families grieved them. But it was only two years before the moon rose again, and on that night their lost ones found their way home.

Outside, they had found that only a month had passed since the original refugees had vanished into the waters of Buyan. They were swept to the Vestaeyjar, where they were lucky to find a struggling community of Tugarin, besieged by their neighbors and barely holding on. At first, their story was not believed, but they convinced their hosts that there was a better place they could go. When the moon rose again, the entire community fled to the west, and once again found the gates beneath the moon and were able to enter into the waters of Buyan.

They were greeted with astonishment and joy. Nobody had expected them to return, and the first ships that came out to them expected to find an attacking force. When they found their lost adventurers instead, the celebrations held in their honor filled the wind with music so loud and lovely that even the Balaur in their mountain villages could hear it. And their adventure began to show the Tugarin how their island interacted with the world beyond, and what to expect in the future.

Kingdoms and Conquest

Time passed, and the people flourished. Villages became towns, and some towns became cities. Over the next several hundred years, Lukomorye was divided into kingdoms, each with their own traditions and territories. Wars were fought, and treaties were signed. Inland, the Balaur also flourished in their mountains, and they too built kingdoms, seemingly one for each valley and peak. Sometimes kingdoms fell to invasion, and became the territory of another. Other times rebellions would shatter a regime, and two or more kingdoms would emerge. This was the tapestry of Buyan's history, until the coming of Vseslav Grozny, the great and terrible.

Vseslav was the Velimír or King of Chudoruhs, a small kingdom in eastern Lukomorye. They were a gifted general, and a magnificent opportunist. Vseslav was able to see exactly when their neighbors were least able to repel the armies of Chudoruhs, and had the will and talent to exploit their weaknesses. Over the course of three decades, Vseslav led the Chudoruhs forces on a campaign of conquest that unified Lukomorye under them. When they captured Zoričar, where the Tugarin refugees first landed, Vseslav marked the occasion by declaring themself Vladodar of all Lukomorye, becoming the first of the emperors of Chudoruhs.

Imperial Buyan

Vseslav and their heirs continued to build the empire after capturing Zoričar. It was another twenty years after Vseslav's death that the last of the coastal kingdoms acknowledged the rule of the Vladodar, and nearly three centuries before all of the Balaur kingdoms had grudgingly surrendered. Today, the Empire extends across the island of Buyan, and to territories beyond that can only be accessed while the moon is down. Contact with the other people of the Great Ring is limited, although merchant ships do appear each time the moon is full in the sky; the way to Buyan is a well guarded secret by these traders, who visit for a night or two each month to trade in goods only found on one side of the moon or another. While there are occasional rebellions, especially among the Balaur, the armies of the Empire rarely see battle in these peaceful days. The Empire thrives, and has become refined, producing art and music that rivals or exceeds any found in the rest of the world.

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Capital

Zoričar

Location

Buyan

Official Languages

• Ostrov

Related Species

• Zmei

Related Ethnicities

• Balaur
• Tugarin

Buyan, the Vanishing Land

The island of Buyan is one of the hardest to reach in all the Great Ring, because it isn't always there. It can only be found under the light of the full moon, and even then you must sail towards it on a particular course. You will know if you are going the right way if the full moon begins to grow dramatically in the sky, as if you are sailing directly towards it and it is growing closer. It will reach it's maximum size just at the point that the coastline of Buyan appears on the horizon, and as you continue forward it will pass overhead until it hangs behind you and begins to shrink again. That is when you are in the waters of Buyan. During the three nights of the full moon, you can leave the island again and return to the rest of the Great Ring, but once the full moon sets the island will be locked away again, until the full moon above Buyan again. And the island holds one more surprise for those who stay there - time does not run the same for Buyan as it does outside. While the full moon may occur on a regular schedule for the rest of the islands, on Buyan it appears at random - sometimes it will be only days, but more often the full moon will vanish for months, years, or even decades. No matter how long it is gone from Buyan, no more than a month will have passed outside. Many who have landed upon Buyan have never lived to see the way out open again. You can read more about this island here.

The Engine of the Empire

Among the Tugarin, there is no creature more important or beloved than the Konvetra. These animals are four-legged wingless birds native to Buyan, and are ridden as mounts by the Tugarin people. Their speed and strength was what permitted the armies of Vseslav Grozny to conquer their neighbors, and they hold a central place in Tugarin culture to this day. Every noble house has a stable full of Konvetra, and they are considered the most valuable and beloved part of any estate. You can read more about the Konvetra here.

The Bogovi

When the Tugarin and the Balaur were forced to leave their homes, they could not take their gods, the Bogovi with them. Like all Numina, the Bogovi were anchored to the lands where their followers lived, and most of them were bound by the Clarati mages at the beginning of their attacks. But they were not forgotten, and when the refugees built their homes on Buyan, they began to assign names and attributes from their homelands to the features of their new island. Over the years, this led to the birth of a new group of Bogovi, anchored to the geography of Buyan. Some of these new gods were similar to the ones of old, and a few even claim to remember their previous incarnations. Others are entirely new, and represent new cultural developments in the new land. You can read more about the Bogovi here.